We’ve already lost track of which day it is, and each day seems to melt into one large swirl of an experience. But today was a day that none of us will forget. We visited the Rucheng Leper Village. It is a remote village, tucked high in the mountains and was established in the early 1950s. Due to the overnight snow/rainfall, the dirt road was covered in sleet, making it very slippery for the vehicles to climb up. Our 7 volunteers from the local church turned out to be a big help in assisting with pushing the van uphill! During the climb, the weather continued to drop with a heavy fog setting in. We were frozen just standing out in the open, many of the helpers got frostbite in their hands. After much scrambling, we arrived at the village. They were happy to see us and were very much surprised we brought gifts of blankets, oil and meat.

For many of us, it was our first time meeting with lepers. It really moved all of us to be there with them. Many had faced discrimination due to their illness and are now isolated from society. Our smiles and gifts certainly made their day, with interaction with the outside world. We were touched by their down-to-earth nature and strength to keep going despite the hardships they face.

Many of us sometimes wonder how much just a little bit of love and concern would make a difference to others, but for them, it made a world of a difference when they so rarely experience it.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 11:12 am and is filed under Asia, China Disaster, James Xiao. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.